£30 annual 'tax' for unlimited downloads to stop Net pirates

Moves to revolutionise music downloading, including a plan to scrap the current system of paying for each track and charge an annual fee instead were unveiled today.

The Government is consulting with the music and internet industries on whether charging an annual subscription - of say £30 - for unlimited legal access to music, could help stamp out illegal downloading and file sharing.

It would also allow a larger share of the revenue from downloading to be channelled back to the original artists.

Most lawful downloads from sites such as Apple's iTunes Store cost 79p for a single track or £7.99 to £9.99 for an entire album. It is hoped the new scheme would persuade most people that it is not worth breaking the law to get access to music.

It is estimated that 6.5 million Britons illegally downloaded music last year and the practice is expected to cost the industry up to £1billion over the next five years.

The plans for an annual fee is one of the proposals drawn up by business minister Baroness Vadera after talks with the six biggest internet service providers, regulator Ofcom and representatives of the music and film industries. The Government wants to avoid a draconian French system whereby persistent offenders have their broadband disconnected after two warnings.

Business Secretary John Hutton said: "This is an intelligent approach to tackling unlawful file-sharing by industry and ISPs. It tells consumers what they can do, rather than just what they can't."

Under the proposal, a letter will be sent to the registered user of an internet account which has been identified as having shared copyrighted material unlawfully and will point the consumer to other sources of material available legally.